The latest Madness winter tour is appropriately titled Hit Parade and, possibly more than any other still active British band, they have an enviable back catalogue of songs that hold a special place in many people’s hearts. There is also a Hit Parade compilation that came out last year with 45 singles and no less than 27 Top 40 hits, so it’s no wonder tonight’s show quickly sold out, as did an extra matinee show.
The standing area iwa rammed with a variety of old and new tour t-shirts, pork pie hats and a large number of fezes. Laurie Johnson’s Echo Four Two theme blasted over the PA to welcome the Nutty Boys, with the high quality video screens displaying a roll call of Madness hit titles, many of which will be performed over the next 90 minutes.
They kicked off with a trio of big hitters: One Step Beyond was all about the gold lame-suited horn section, Embarrassment featured a planned false start, with the seemingly ageless Suggs saying “thankyou, good night” after the first few bars. The drums, piano and horns had the crowd bobbing along as Lee Thompson’s sax wailed on the side of the stage. The Prince followed with a backdrop of photos of the song’s namesake, Prince Buster, appearing.
Suggs’s tongue stayed firmly in his cheek for the duration of the set, apologising for the ticket mix up, as he believed some audience members had come for The Piranhas’ reunion show, which quickly turned into a Tom Hark singalong. NW5, their hometown song, came next then pianist Mike Barson, in his “James Bond outfit” explained how he wrote My Girl in Winchmore Hill in the late 70s while delivering bananas and getting robbed of his Christmas bonus.
The dread of the Monday morning alarm was perfectly conveyed in Grey Day, a mildly depressing but spot on song that was comparable to rivals The Specials’ Ghost Town. Bed and Breakfast Man, probably their best song that wasn’t a UK single, saw Suggs holding his mic out for the crowd to sing along to this fan favourite. For Shut Up, Woody pounded his drums as the horn section, dressed as policemen, took their truncheons to Thompson, now sporting a striped burglar’s top.
One Better Day began with a sultry sax intro after Suggs’s introduction about the plight of homeless people in the UK. This beautiful song, with meaningful lyrics and an evocative video, suddenly rises to an uplifting chorus before returning to the sad reality of living on the streets. The video backdrops were of the highest standard throughout, making this a well thought out and superbly executed production.
Things ramped up with House of Fun, describing the trials and tribulations of teenage life while promoting safe sex and Baggy Trousers perfectly chronicled mischievous school day memories; two examples of the infectious sound that make them such a much-loved band.
Barson’s piano intro to It Must Be Love heralded the beginning of the end of the evening. Their cover of Labi Siffre’s beautiful song was the perfect sentiment to finish on, with hearts appearing on the screens and heaps of confetti falling from the ceiling. This was still falling as the band returned for a surprising encore of Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, played in a slow reggae/ska style. Huge balloons were bounced around the crowd and stage with snow blowers making this an early Xmas present to their fans.
Madness, another Prince Buster cover, was the perfect party song and finally, it was time for the fez-wearers to step up as a cacophonous horn blast and Barson’s piano introduced Night Boat To Cairo. There was a party on and off stage with Suggs singing to Liz Taylor as Cleopatra on the screen. There were band introductions and then that was it after the final closing bars.
After a selection of 80s tunes from the likes of The Specials and Dexys Midnight Runners, Squeeze took to the stage, all nicely suited except for drummer Simon Hanson and percussionist Steve Smith, and opened strongly with Pulling Mussels (From the Shell). The sound was crisp and clean as Glenn Tilbrook delivered tales of Camber Sands, William Tell and Maid Marian. Keyboard player Stephen Large had piano skills to rival former member Jools Holland and it was a joy to hear Chris Difford and Tilbrook’s voices together in the flesh.
With no chat, it was straight into Is That Love. The Beatles’ influence came through strongly but what a song. Another Tilbrook guitar solo was matched by percussionist Smith hand slapping everything in sight.
The familiar drum beats introduced a perfect pop song. Up The Junction was super tight, with the stage bathed in lilac to match the colour of the original 7” single. It sounded as absolutely wonderful as it did when first released in 1979.
A quick “thanks” came from Difford but there was no time to waste, as a swirling Hammond organ sound came from the keys, to introduce Tempted. Difford’s deep voice came through on harmonies, lifted by the beautiful backing vocals and whoop whoops from Danica Dora. Tilbrook delivered a great rock ‘n’ roll solo before ending with a cute “cheers lovelies”.
So far, so great and now it was time to plug the new album, Trixies, which is actually a collection of story songs, set in a fictional night club. The amazing thing is that all the songs on the album were written by the teenaged Difford and Tilbrook before Squeeze had formed.
You Get the Feeling, written in 1974, had incredibly mature lyrics and melodies for a pair of teenagers, while Why Don’t You? was a swaggery stomper with echoes of Glam/Bovver Rock mixed with an added Beach Boys feel. The Jaguars followed in a similar vein but felt more like an angry Beatles meet Sweet style, which saw the pedal steel and all guitars rocking out in unison.
Large switched from keys to accordion, and Duffy left his pedal steel to play mandolin on a rocking good version of Goodbye Girl. Difford and Tilbrook’s voices and clever wordplay came to the fore on Slap and Tickle, while the super tight band provided the perfect backing. There was a proggy synth interlude followed by Tilbrook making use of his wah wah pedal and using his mic as a bottle neck.
With Tilbrook having taken the lion’s share of lead vocals, it was time for Chris Difford to shine. Cool For Cats, wouldn’t have worked with Tilbrook’s voice but he contributed an excellent guitar solo. This was another perfect rendition of another classic pop song. It felt a little overwhelming being bombarded by hit after hit but what a joy and proof that they are nobody’s support act.
They closed with Take Me I’m Yours with drums and percussion driving hard and fast, ramping it up into a march beat. The band were introduced with Melvin Duffy taking the first showboating solo on pedal steel, which was immediately upstaged by the newest band member, Danica Dora who did the splits after a few lines of Donovan’s Mellow Yellow; Stephen Large, who’d made such a contribution to the set, absolutely hammered out his keyboard solo as percussionist Steve Smith clapped along; drummer Simon Hanson had nothing to prove but wowed us again all the same. The song ended with Tilbrook cultivating a call and response with the crowd as every band member jumped in time to the music. No introductions were needed for the two original members of the band, who have been writing and performing these incredible songs for over fifty years.
Squeeze return to the Brighton Centre as headliners in just under a year’s time, when Billy Bragg will be opening for them, on Saturday 5th December 2026. Tickets are on sale now from the venue here.
Madness and Squeeze, Brighton Centre,
Sunday 14th December 2025.
